Heartland Institute

The Heartland Institute, according to the Institute's web site, is a nonprofit "think tank" that questions the reality and import of climate change, second-hand smoke health hazards, and a host of other issues that might seem to require government regulation.

About
On its website Heartland states that it "is a genuinely independent source of research and commentary founded in Chicago, Illinois ....not affiliated with any political party, business, or foundation....tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3), ..."

The institute was founded in 1984 by David H. Padden, now the President of Padco Lease Corporation, and Joseph L. Bast, Heartland's President and CEO.

In 2007 it spent over $5.8 million on its activities.
 * "Heartland grew out of David H. Padden’s Loop Libertarian League, a group that met monthly at the Union League Club in downtown Chicago to discuss politics and philosophy. The idea was to create a think tank in Chicago that would emulate larger D.C. think tanks--national organizations that produce excellent original research. Today, we ... fill a unique niche in the free-market movement as the only think tank that directly markets free-market ideas to the nation’s legislators and opinion leaders."

Audience and products
The Institute sees its primary audience as "the nation’s 8,300 state and national elected officials and approximately 8,400 local government officials." For five of the Insitute's priority policy areas, Heartland produces 20-page tabloid-sized monthly newspapers which are primarily distributed to elected officials, journalists and donors. (The five publications are Budget & Tax News, Environment & Climate News, Health Care News, Infotech & Telecom News and School Reform News. Heartland also hosts PolicyBot, which it refers to as the "Internet's most extensive clearing-house for the work of free-market think tanks." The database contains 22,000 documents from 350 U.S. right-wing think tanks and advocacy groups.

Mission
According to Heartland website, its mission is "to discover and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems". The Institute campaigns in support of:


 * "Common-sense environmentalism", such as opposition to the the Kyoto Protocol aimed at countering global warming
 * Genetically engineered crops and products;
 * The privatization of public services;
 * The introduction of school vouchers;
 * The deregulation of health care insurance;

and against:


 * What it refers to as "junk science" (science that that could indicate a need for regulation);
 * Tobacco control measures such as tobacco tax increases (the Institute denies the health effects of second-hand smoke);

A version of its mission stated, current until 2006, stated that Heartland was "devoted to turning ideas into social movements that empower people". Another think tank link to Heartland used a slightly different version of its mission statement: "Heartland's mission is to help build social movements in support of ideas that empower people".

In a statement submitted to the charity research group, Guidestar, Heartland states that "people devote time to learn about subjects only if they believe acquiring specific knowledge will benefit them personally. Often, this seems unlikely. Consequently, most people choose rationally to remain ignorant about many public policy issues. The Heartland Institute has overcome the problem of 'rational ignorance' by inventing publications busy elected officials and the public will actually read and come to trust. Our publications are highly effective and inexpensive vehicles for communicating messages on public policy."

Tobacco ties
See Heartland Institute and tobacco for extensive documentation of the Institute's tobacco ties.

Heartland's climate conferences

 * March 2008, The 2008 International Conference on Climate Change
 * March 2009, International Conference on Climate Change (2009), in New York.


 * June 2009, Third International Conference on Climate Change in Washington, DC on June 2, 2009 at the Washington Court Hotel, to "call attention to widespread dissent to the asserted 'consensus' on various aspects of climate change and global warming," according to Heartland's announcement of the event. "The conference's theme will be Climate Change: Scientific Debate and Economic Analysis. The theme reflects the fact that the scientific debate is not over and that economic analysis is more important than ever, now that legislation is being seriously considered. The real science and economics of climate change support the view that global warming is not a crisis and that immediate action to reduce emissions is not necessary. This is, in fact, the emerging consensus view of scientists outside the IPCC and most economists outside environmental advocacy groups," Heartland's website states.

"Global warming experts"
See Heartland's "global warming experts" list at Heartland Institute/Global warming experts.

(As a group, "Global warming experts" who minimize the risks of climate change have less expertise than those who don't. )

The Heartland Institute's Environmental "expert," James Taylor, is a lawyer based in Florida. Despite presenting a veneer of scientific expertise in their Environmental advocacy, the Heartland lacks any(?) scientists trained to understand climate issues.

Water policy
Heartland opposes the Great Lakes Water Resources Compact, which was signed into affect in December of 2005 by the governors of eight states that border the great lakes, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York, and the premiers of the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario. As of 2008, the compact was ratified by all of the eight state legislatures. The compact was proposed in light of the unprecedented low levels of water in the lakes, which are now at the bottom end of the historical fluctuation range of 4-6 feet. In order to mitigate diminishing water levels, The compact will limit the consumption of water from the Great Lakes to areas within these eight states, or to areas outside of the boundary only by petition subject to strict regulation. This new regulation also stemmed from proposals to ship water from the Great Lakes to other states like Arizona, or even out of the country into Asian water markets.

In a research and commentary report released in March of 2007, the Heartland Institute criticized the compact, claiming water should be regulated through the market rather than through the government. In this report, Heartland, as is typical of a free market think tank, contends that water is a commodity just like other resources, and should thus be regulated through market mechanisms. The report cites Terry Anderson, Director of the Property and Environment Research Center, arguing that "water rights should be allocated and traded in the marketplace, even if that means shipping water to Asia at the right price. It's no different than shipping out cars or iron ore."

Foundation funders
Media Transparency lists Heartland as having received grants from a range of foundations between 1986 and 2009. Of these foundations, by far the largest donor has been the foundation of Chicago industrialist Barre Seid, maker of Tripp Lite surge protectors.
 * Barbara and Barre Seid Foundation	$1,037,977
 * Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation 	$648,000
 * Exxon Mobil 	$531,500
 * Walton Family Foundation 	$400,000
 * Sarah Scaife Foundation 	$325,000
 * Charlotte and Walter Kohler Charitable Trust 	$190,500
 * Jaquelin Hume Foundation 	$166,000
 * Rodney Fund 	$135,000
 * JM Foundation 	$82,000
 * Castle Rock Foundation 	$70,000
 * Roe Foundation 	$41,500
 * John M. Olin Foundation 	$40,000
 * Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation 	$40,000
 * Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation 	$37,578
 * Armstrong Foundation	$30,000
 * Hickory Foundation 	$13,000
 * Carthage Foundation 	$10,000

Exxon funding
Greenpeace's ExxonSecrets website lists Heartland as having received $676,500 (unadjusted for inflation) from ExxonMobil between 1998 and 2006. (As mentioned above, Heartland insist that Exxon has not contributed to the group since 2006.)

Exxon contributions include:
 * $30,000 in 1998;
 * $115,000 in 2000;
 * $90,000 in 2001;
 * $15,000 in 2002;
 * $85,000 for General Operating Support and $7,500 for their 19th Anniversary Benefit Dinner in 2003;
 * $85,000 for General Operating Support and $15,000 for Climate Change Efforts in 2004; and
 * $119,000 in 2005; and
 * $115,000 in 2006.

Secrecy on funding sources
While Heartland once disclosed its major supporters, it now refuses to publicly disclose who its corporate and foundation funders are. In response to an article criticizing the think tank for its secrecy, the group's President, Joseph Bast, wrote in February 2005:


 * "For many years, we provided a complete list of Heartland's corporate and foundation donors on this Web site and challenged other think tanks and advocacy groups to do the same. To our knowledge, not a single group followed our lead. However, critics who couldn’t or wouldn’t engage in fair debate over our ideas found the donor list a convenient place to find the names of unpopular companies or foundations, which they used in ad hominem attacks against us. Even reporters from time to time seemed to think reporting the identities of one or two donors--out of a list of hundreds--was a fair way of representing our funding or our motivation in taking the positions expressed in our publications. After much deliberation and with some regret, we now keep confidential the identities of all our donors."

It has also claimed that "by not disclosing our donors, we keep the focus on the issue."

Funding breakdown, according to Heartland
Following the compilation of this SourceWatch article and articles on other websites, Heartland posted a list of responses to what it claimed was "misinformation" about the group. On its funding it stated that "in 2007 it received 71 percent of its income from foundations, 16 percent from corporations, and 11 percent from individuals. No corporate donor gave more than 5 percent of its annual budget ... ExxonMobil has not contributed to Heartland since 2006. Indeed, gifts from all energy companies - coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear - combined did not exceed 5 percent of Heartland’s budget in 2007." (Heartland states that its 2007 revenue was approximately $5.2 million. Based on this Heartland statement, in 2007 foundations provided approximately $3.69 million, corporations contributed $832,000 and approximately 1,600 individuals Energy companies -- "coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear" -- contributed approximately 5% or around $260,000.)

2007, 2008 funding details
In its 2007 annual return to the Internal Revenue Service, Heartland disclosed its 2007 annual revenue as being $5.2 million while its total expenses were $5.8 million. The deficit of $648,458 ate through the group's start of year reserves of $535,113. By the end of 2007, Heartland was in the red to the tune of $113,345. In its 2008 annual report to supporters, Heartland outlines that corporate sponsorships start out at $10,000, with the next rung up being "silver" sponsors which contribute $25,000, "gold" sponsors donating $50,000 and "platinum" sponsors kicking in $100,000.

1999 funders
A June 1999 Heartland document (page 8+) lists Heartland's then-recent corporate, foundation and individual donors, and, for the highest spenders, roughly how much they gave.

Personnel
See calved pages Heartland Institute personnel and Heartland Institute/Global warming experts.

Publications

 * Budget & Tax News
 * Environment & Climate News
 * Health Care News
 * Info Tech and Telecom News
 * School Reform News
 * The Heartlander
 * Lawsuit Abuse Fortnightly
 * News & Views
 * Policy Studies
 * Perspectives

Former Publications

 * Intellectual Ammunition

Contact
Heartland Institute 19 South LaSalle Street Suite 903 Chicago, IL 60603 Phone: 312 377-4000 Email: think AT heartland.org Web: http://www.heartland.org

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Heartland Institute and tobacco
 * Heartland Institute personnel
 * Heartland Institute/Global warming experts
 * Joseph L. Bast
 * David H. Padden
 * International Conference on Climate Change (2009)
 * The 2008 International Conference on Climate Change
 * Think tanks